The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Soundtrack

[A special review]
Very Good Soundtrack
Some people are griping because this soundtrack doesn’t feature Muse. I’m a Muse fan too, and maybe the other Twilight soundtracks are better, but people should base things on what’s there, not on what’s not there (the latter is important, but shouldn’t be focused on too much).
I bought the CD for «A Thousand Years,» and didn’t expect much otherwise, but most of the songs are good or very good.
1) «Endtapes» by The Joy Formidable (4:10): 8.5÷10.
A slightly weird, but very cool song.
It starts things off right.
2) «Love Will Take You» by Angus & Julia Stone (4:31): ⁹⁄₁₀.
A really sweet and good song.
I love the music. It makes me think of a casual day out in the country.
3) «It Will Rain» by Bruno Mars (4:19): ⁹⁄₁₀.
Bruno, as usual, sings with conviction. The song is heartfelt and easy to listen to. I’m glad that it’s starting to receive a lot of airplay.
4) «Turning Page» by Sleeping At Last (4:16): ⁸⁄₁₀.
The lyrics are great, and the song picks up steam at the end.
5) «From Now On» by The Features (3:22): 8.5÷10.
An upbeat song with a driving beat.
Although it’s fairly light, the song reminds me of The Killers.
6) «A Thousand Years» by Christina Perri (4:46): 9.5÷10.
I noticed right away when I heard the song on the radio how simple it is. Still, it’s quite touching, and I’m not even a fan of the movies (I’m sure that I would like them, but I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Twilight).
The vocals are pure and beautiful, and the song is arranged wonderfully.
7) «Neighbors» by Theophilus London (3:57): ⁸⁄₁₀.
Despite the vocals being a little rough (it’s also odd that only the word «neighbor» is used in the song), the song is pretty solid.
8) «I Didn’t Mean It» by The Belle Brigade (3:34): ⁹⁄₁₀.
A fun and rollicking rock song.
The lead singer sounds a lot like Macy Gray, and this song should be played in bars.
9) «Sister Rosetta (2011 Version)» by Noisettes (2:59): ⁹⁄₁₀.
I like the noise that the Noisettes make here. The song is fast and slick (I can picture people dancing to it). Another highlight of the soundtrack.
It’s cool that the word «twilight» is used at the :17 mark.
10) «Northern Lights» by Cider Sky (3:50): 8.5÷10.
Mellow and sweet, and in the vein of an Owl City song.
11) «Flightless Bird, American Mouth (Wedding Version)» by Iron & Wine (4:27): 7.5÷10.
Okay, this is where the soundtrack starts to go downhill (I think some people are overreacting to how weak the final 5 songs are overall).
The song ends well, but is too slow at the beginning. It just doesn’t hold my attention from start to finish.
12) «Requiem On Water» by Imperial Mammoth (2:24): ⁸⁄₁₀.
The vocals aren’t fabulous, but the song is satisfying despite being so short.
13) «Cold» by Aqualung & Lucy Schwartz (3:40): 7.5÷10.
He’s a good singer, but I find Aqualung songs to be dull. This one has some more life to it thanks to Lucy (they feed off each other well). It also ends on a strong note (it takes awhile to get going).
14) «Llovera» by Mia Maestro (5:14): ⁵⁄₁₀.
Zzz.
A boring song not really worth listening to unless you’re trying to fall asleep.
15) «Love Death Birth» by Carter Burwell (6:04): ⁶⁄₁₀.
The music is solid, but few people will be interested in this long instrumental.
Even if you ignore all the weak songs, you’ll still be left with over 40 minutes of good music. That makes for an above average soundtrack.